Escape
by MystiklSushi
Summary: Pain and fatigue were all encompassing. They had become his world. But anything was better than being caught. Kurama-centric Oneshot.


I'm getting frustrated with the quality of a lot of fanfiction as of late. For some reason, I sense things going downhill. It could just be me, though.  
Here's just a bit of a oneshot drabble.  
I don't own YYH.

* * *

Pain and fatigue were all encompassing. They had become his world. Fear, at this point, was not entirely out of the equation, but instead, his driving force. If he didn't continue forward, he would surely die.

He wasn't quite sure what he had to live for at the moment, but instinct had taken full force of his brain, brushing away such thoughts and pushing him forward, to the sheer limits of his existence. He'd shed his wounded body almost before he realized what he'd done, and bolted. He was a form of soul and youki and air, but his flight was far from over. He wouldn't last long this way; he needed a body to reside in as quickly as possible. 

The hunter was catching up. He'd been careless on this latest excursion, to let such a low level apparition mortally wound him, let alone catch him off guard. The loss of his most recent partner was still weighing fresh in his mind, and he'd abandoned reason and entered Reikai on a whim, bringing along only a few inexperienced and poorly trained thieves rather than waiting for someone more knowledgeable to accompany him on this heist. Now the backup was all dead. Dead and rotting in Enma's vaults. Along with his now empty corpse. A nice trophy for the ruler of Reikai, he supposed. However, there was no time for regrets now. He was still alive, in a sense, and would remain that way as long as he was consciously able.

He'd escaped from his own body, from Reikai, and was now trying for the impossible. He would escape everything altogether, and try for Ningenkai. It was, after all, easier to cross over to the realm of humans from the realm of spirits rather than go back to his homeland. He'd be much harder to find. Much harder to kill. Then he would be able to recover his energy slowly and…He didn't know. Go back to Makai to reclaim his pride and reputation? Pay back that damned Reikai hunter? Perhaps.

Thinking too far beyond the immediate cut his focus in half, and he barely missed being caught by the persistent hunter. He could feel the weight of his soul starting to drag down, threatening to undo the magic he'd somehow worked on himself. If he didn't find a rift or discrepancy between the two worlds soon, he'd do damage to the fragile thing, if not destroy himself altogether. 

But anything was better than being caught. He firmly believed in that sentiment, especially after Kuronue…But he had to concentrate. His youki was becoming harder to manage. Running and dodging was becoming tiresome. Much more of this, and he wouldn't be able to continue on. He knew, however, that there would be no mercy shown to him if he were to be caught, and the chance of escape was slim. Better to strain his soul to the point that it shattered into nothingness before he handed himself over willingly. 

His youki suddenly dissipated from the hazy fox form it had taken, becoming nothing more than a vaguely protective shell for his soul. It hurt…pushing and straining his very essence to these limits, though "hurt" was perhaps not the best way to describe it. The pain had become his everything. Pain and blind instinct. Even later, he wouldn't remember how he made it through to Ningenkai, or away from the hunter. Just pain, then bright light—the sun?—floral scent, a laughing woman, and then everything was gone.

Inari must have been looking after him. It was the only way he could explain it now…from this warm and dark place he'd found himself in. Either that, or he'd finally made his way into nothingness. A means of nonexistence. There was no need to breathe or eat here, just the gentle warm nothing. Only something else was there, he felt. He was aware of a throbbing all around him as he floated, suspended in the darkness. A living darkness, then? But it didn't matter anymore. He was beyond exhausted. It would take quite some time to gain his youki back… He began to close the eyes of his consciousness, feeling with some vague sense of certainty that he was, for the moment, out of harm's way.

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I've had a lot of free time lately, as I've been sick over break again. Lots of time to think, since I can't do much else.  
Reviews are appreciated, as they tend to fuel more writing.  
And as always, thank you Sora Sotara, for your encouragement.  
Without your reviews, I don't know if I would even continue to post these things.  



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